LAKE CITY, Fla. — Churches are meant to be places of worship and peace, but recently, some have also become targets of violence. That’s why Lake City Police are partnering with local faith leaders to prepare for the unthinkable.
According to the Faith-Based Security Operations database, U.S. houses of worship saw 38 acts of violence or threats in 2023, and the FBI reports over 1,000 hate crimes targeting religious groups nationwide.
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Just earlier this year, a man in Jacksonville broke into at least eight churches, and in St. Augustine, another man was arrested for threatening a church with weapons in his car.
“Being in your house of worship, people grow comfortable. They feel safe. They become complacent, and that is not where you need to be,” said Ashley Hardison, Lake City Police Department Community Relations Coordinator.
To help prevent tragedies, Lake City Police will host a safety training event aimed at giving church leaders the tools and knowledge to recognize potential threats and respond effectively.
“With all the new laws coming into play with gun laws and things like that, we want to make sure that we’re protected as a church, but we’re allowed and not allowed to do,” said Nikki Hubler, Financial Administrator at First Presbyterian Church.
With Florida’s new open-carry law now in effect, the training will also cover how churches can handle situations where someone legally brings a firearm into a service.
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“What tools do we need to make sure that they’re identified as a person of faith, a person that’s supposed to be here, compared to someone that has come in here with ill intent,” Hubler said.
First Presbyterian Church, along with more than 10 others, plans to attend the training. While Hubler declined to say whether church members openly carry firearms, she said the church will discuss its gun policy following the event.
In the meantime, police are encouraging churches to take proactive steps: install surveillance cameras, know their congregation, and keep doors locked during services.
The safety training will be held on Tuesday, November 18, at 6 p.m. at City Hall in Lake City.
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